WHY I ended up being A SOLO female TRAVELER

Posted: 09/10/2014 | September 10th, 2014

Last month, I revealed I’d be bringing monthly columnists to this website. On the second Wednesday of the month, Kristin Addis from Be My travel Muse will be right here to provide you fantastic tips as well as advice on solo female travel. Her column starts this month. Let’s get to understand her!

I sat on the beach in Cambodia, amazed that a white sand beach so pristine still existed in the world. There were no towering resorts or people with elegant drinks with umbrellas walking by. It was virtually empty. This was my second week traveling alone. I bought my one-way ticket to Southeast Asia, and, sitting on this beach, I understood I made the right decision.

I never did a great deal of traveling when I was younger as well as definitely had never backpacked alone — or, really, at all. four years earlier, I’d resided in Taiwan as a language trainee for eight months. After coming house as well as getting a full-time task like I believed I was supposed to, I couldn’t shake my wish to return to Asia. In those days of longing, I never pictured I’d ultimately take off on an open-ended trip that I’m still on two years later.

So why did I stop my task to travel the world?

Even though I was professionally successful, I wasn’t happy. My workstation felt restrictive. The task paid well, however I discovered that the money wasn’t sufficient to validate costs my twenties supporting somebody else’s dream. I felt like something was missing. I needed adventure, as well as I couldn’t shake my wish to get back to Asia. however I wasn’t sure exactly how to make it happen.

I spent years yearning for freedom, heavy with research study into far-off locations that seemed so eliminated from any type of truth I might picture for myself. I scoured the Web for some type of inspiration. Was it possible to travel long-lasting without a trust fund? might women truly travel alone safely? I understood nobody else who might just stop his or her life as well as join me, so the only method was to go it alone.

The more I checked out online, the more I realized it was possible as well as the more the dream ended up being a long-term resident in my mind. The wish ended up being so huge, it was frequently the only thing I might believe about. Quitting my task as well as selling all of my stuff was precisely what I needed to do to get back to Asia, so I hatched a plan as well as complied with it.

The thoughts in my head echoed my friends’ concerns. Am I crazy to be venturing off alone? I wondered. will I shoot myself in the foot economically as well as professionally? will it be safe? will I be lonely all the time? will I have regrets?

But I understood that the biggest regret of all would have been to stay in a circumstance I wasn’t happy with: a world of elegant cars, high rent, as well as designer clothes that somehow never handled to bring me the joy I’d been promised.

I didn’t believe in the “American dream” anymore. I didn’t want a mortgage, a white picket fence, 2.5 children, as well as a feline named Fluffy. In August 2012, I listed whatever I had on Craigslist as well as offered it off in the span of one week, then promptly ended my lease as well as moved out of my apartment. In September, shaking in my shoes, I boarded the airplane to Bangkok, without so much as a space booked when I landed.

Sitting on that beach in Cambodia, it felt like I had reached the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. What had I been so afraid of? everything [turned out to be] simple, safe, as well as easy.

I’ve traveled solo with every country in Southeast Asia while falling in like with the culture as well as food. I’ve hung out of doors of trains chugging past cascading rice paddies in Sri Lanka, dived with whale sharks in the Maldives, trekked over 100 miles in Nepal while bring all of my own gear, as well as hitchhiked alone with China.

These experiences assisted me figure out exactly how to discover the less-visited places, exactly how to get invited into people’s houses in order to experience the true regional culture, as well as exactly how to delve deeper into each location without relying on a guidebook. As a solo traveler, these chances are frequently plentiful for me. people want to take solo travelers in, there’s more space for one, as well as it can all be experienced individually, providing an fantastic discovering experience about the world.

The beauty of traveling solo, particularly as a female, has likewise taught me so much about myself. It’s made me more independent, stronger, as well as more resilient. I’ve encountered so many fantastic women available doing the extremely exact same thing, a few of whom are as young as 18 or 19 years old.

I’ve got countless emails from women in similar situations, those who want to leave behind a traditional life to see the world. I always tell them that if it’s in their heart, they have to do it.

Inmy monthly column, you can expect to see more posts on precisely exactly how to do that — how to face as well as get over fear, exactly how to notify as well as quell the hesitations of your buddies as well as family, exactly how to end your lease as well as offer your stuff, what to pack, exactly how to stay safe, exactly how to discover deeper cultural experiences, as well as much more. I’ll show you that it’s easier than you believe to travel around the world as a woman.

Traveling long-lasting absolutely needs a leap of faith, however with the right preparation, it doesn’t have to be a frightening one.

Kristin Addis is a solo female travel professional who influences women to travel the world in an authentic as well as adventurous way. A former investment banker who offered all of her possessions as well as left California in 2012, Kristin has solo traveled the world for over four years, covering every continent (except for Antarctica, however it’s on her list). There’s almost nothing she won’t try as well as almost nowhere she won’t explore. You can discover more of her musings at Be My travel Muse or on Instagram as well as Facebook.
 

Book Your Trip: Logistical tips as well as Tricks
Book Your Flight
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Book Your Accommodation
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Don’t fail to remember travel Insurance
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